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The best of WoW.com: June 2-9, 2009
WoW Insider is now WoW.com, if you haven't yet heard, but don't worry: we still have everything you need to know about the world's most popular massively multiplayer online game, from tips and tricks to news and views. Here's our most popular posts from the past week, including news about all the new Druid forms above -- if it's in Azeroth, we've got news about it, just for you. News Beware of Blood Elves selling mountsOne of our writers' friends falls prey to the game's newest scam. Achieved: Level 1 to 80 with no deathsA character appropriately named Cautious reached the highest level in the game without dying once. Revamped Night Elf Druid cat forms revealedNew looks for Night Elf Druids. Zarhym explains Druid form color combosWant to make sure your Druid has the form you want? Here's how. Ensidia gets world-first Algalon 25-man killOne of the game's biggest pro guilds downs the last major boss in the current content. Features An interview with a scammerThe perp in the article above gets the WoW.com interview spotlight shined on him. WoW, Casually: Rating the classes for casualsWhich class is best to play for a casual player? Arcane Brilliance: Reaching the hit capMages, here's how to make the most out of those spells you're casting. The lore of UlduarThe latest game dungeon has more than a few hooks and hints into the rest of the World of Warcraft. The Queue: WaterfallsOur Q&A column will actually go chasing waterfalls to find answers to your questions. Not just stick to the rivers and the lakes that they're used to.
Gentlemens Club achieves Herald of the Titans world first (Edited)
Via Guildox, we've just gotten word that Gentlemens Club of Korgath-US, Hordeside, has just become the world-first achievers of Herald of the Titans. This achievement requires that you defeat Algalon on 10-man difficult with no gear above iLevel 226. In other words, they were not wearing a single piece of Hard-mode Ulduar 25-man gear (While we haven't looked closely at their armory, the achievement would allow for normal mode 25-man gear, though even normal mode 25-man weapons would be off limits). [EDIT: iLevel 226 is actually the item level of gear from Normal mode 25-man Ulduar, not Hard mode as previously stated. It is also the item level of gear that drops from Heroic or 25-man Malygos, Kel'thuzad, and Sartharion with at least 2 drakes up. Hard mode 10-man Ulduar also drop iLevel 226 items, which indicates that the Achievement is intended mostly for 10-man progression.]While 10-man and 25-man raids were technically meant to be seperate tiers of progression, it seems like many raiders freely mix the two, and while that's certainly to be expected, and there's nothing wrong with it, it's cool to see at least a few guilds focus on mastering that path of progression and arguably challenging themselves to at least the 10-man Algalon fight as Blizzard meant it to be fought.In short, they've managed to proclaim themselves Kings of the 10-man game in Patch 3.1, even if other guilds technically beat them to 10-man Algalon kill itself. Congratulations to everyone involved in the raid!
Ensidia gets world first 25-man Algalon kill
Just seven weeks after patch 3.1 brought Ulduar to the live servers, Ensidia has conquered it. They just made the world-first kill of the 25-man version of Algalon, the optional final boss that appears only after completing every other boss's hard mode. Algalon only allows one hour per raid lockout period of attempts on him. Ensidia got the world-first kill of 10-man Algalon a bit over two weeks ago. They say the 25-man version is "not an easy fight," "highly gear dependent," and "a significant difficulty increase over the 10 man version." Apparently last week they got him to 4%, only 1% over the threshold to beat him (he gives up, like Mal'Ganis in Culling of Stratholme). That must be frustrating as heck. Well, congratulations to Ensidia, once again! I wonder what they'll be doing until patch 3.2 comes out.
Algalon kill video from the Underground Kosmonavts
As you might have heard previously, the Underground Kosmonavts of EU-Ravencrest scored the World 2nd kill on the 10-man version of Algalon. Shortly after their kill they released a video of it, which has burning across the net. Algalon has been incredibly hyped, so it doesn't surprise me!Now, I haven't done this fight, I won't pretend I have, and all that I've seen is this video, so take this as, essentially, me talking out of my rear end: This fight looks really easy compared to what I've seen of Ulduar so far. Quite honestly, it looks like a tank and spank compared to something like Mimiron. Not to mention his hard mode, which you need to do to get to Algalon in the first place. Maybe Algalon is Ulduar's Brutallus? Hopefully there are elements to the fight that don't show up on video very well (from the point of view of a Hunter especially), and what we're seeing isn't a good indicator of the whole encounter.Of course, I really don't mean to trivialize the accomplishment here. These guys were the second guild in the world to down him, and I imagine that if it were as easy as the video makes it look, a lot more guilds would have done it by now. Great job, Kosmonavts.
Ready Check: Hard modes and progression
Ready Check is a weekly column focusing on successful raiding for the serious raider. Hardcore or casual, Archavon or Algalon, everyone can get in on the action and down some bosses. This week, we look at the hard modes in Ulduar.It is a truth universally acknowledged that a raiding guild, in possession of a good enough fortune to cover repair costs, must be in want of a challenge. Rather than make bosses difficult by default, the design of Ulduar is liberally sprinkled with the sort of challenge we only saw hints of before -- hard modes.The idea behind hard modes is to cater for every type of raider. Whether you just want to see content, have difficulty killing it as-is, or fancy spending several evenings wiping to artificial constraints, you can do so. (Note that when I say 'normal mode' from now on I mean non-hard-mode, not 10-man.)
[1.Local]: Making ourselves at home
Reader comments – ahh, yes, the juicy goodness following a meaty post. [1.Local] ducks past the swinging doors to see what readers have been chatting about in the back room over the past week.Welcome home to WoW.com. Moving into a new place can be hectic, but we think our new digs at WoW.com are pretty darn comfy. In addition to a fresh face and identity for WoW Insider, we've introduced the beta launch of WoW.com Profiles. Show off your characters with a profile on WoW.com. By downloading the WoW.com addon, you can also keep all of your friends up to date on what you're doing in game, and make blog posts and upload screenshots directly from your game client. Not a big fan of the social media scene? You don't have to change a thing – WoW.com offers all the old content you know (and hopefully love) so well. "If I'm being honest, when I first saw that the site had changed, I didn't really 'feel it,'" commented reader Retropally. "After days of it sinking in, I'm loving it. The new theme is awesome -- and really, nothing has changed in the way of the posts that are written ..."Join the [1.Local] gang and add your thoughts about our new look and social features -- and hop on across the fold to see what else readers were chatting about during the past week.
Ensidia gets 10-man Algalon world-first
Ensidia, the European super-guild that resulted from the merger of SK-Gaming and Nihilum last year, has just made the world first kill of the 10-man version of Algalon, Ulduar's true final boss. Algalon is only accessible after completing every other hard mode in Ulduar, and guilds are only given 60 minutes per week of attempts on him. 25-man Algalon has not yet been killed. For details on the loot, see Ensidia's announcement; there's some great stuff there. Mek, from Ensidia, had this to say about the fight: "It's a pretty intense fight but not quite as hard as Blizzard made it out to be. The 1 hour timer is the real challenge since you must do a perfect attempt within it." Of course, I think "not quite as hard" for Ensidia is probably a pretty good challenge for the rest of us mortals. Congratulations, Ensidia! [via MMO-Champion]
MMO Champion reveals shiny Algalon dagger
"Oh my god, it's full of stars!"No, it's not 2001: A Space Odyssey (one of the best books and movies of, like, all time), it was our very own Elizabeth Harper when she saw this shiny new dagger, revealed thanks to MMO Champion. Now Algalon still hasn't been defeated, but doesn't this awesome, star-filled blade make you want to pwn his arse? Go on, admit it, even if it's purely on an RP-level. Personally, as a boomer, I use staves exclusively but I want this weapon so badly. It has to be one of the nicest looking drops I've seen in a while - and the stats aren't too bad either. It manages to encapsulate everything about the Algalon encounter and the shiny graphics in one neat package. In my experience, most loot has an awesome name or looks snazzy, but seldom lives up to its reputation. However, given the nice load of gear which has been tumbling out of Ulduar's 10 and 25 man encounters, it's nice to see some pieces which aren't just nice on a purely shiny level. These are drops like Voldrethar, Dark Blade of Oblivion, Wisdom's Hold, Shoulderpads of Dormant Energies and the Dark Edge of Depravity. Check out more info at MMO Champion and try not to drool.
What happens if Algalon isn't defeated?
This week information about the final boss of Ulduar has slowly been revealed, thanks to the guild Wraith on EU-Ysondre. We never got to meet Algalon the Observer on the PTRs so this encounter is one of the most mysterious, both in terms of tactics and of lore. From what I've seen it's also one of the most gorgeous, but then again, I like stars and floating planets. Algalon himself is an entity composed of stars, a spectral being who is not uncompassionate to the heroes who have come to kill him. He just has a job to do. A job which could see our world being put in serious - even cataclysmic jepoardy.Needless to say, from here on in, there be SPOILERS about the actual boss fight so read on at your own peril!
Loot, rationality, and the Sunwell effect
Here at WoW Insider we don't always agree with each other. Whether it's debating the merits of various tanks on different encounters, the damage difference between pure and hybrid DPS classes, the ideal function of a particular healing class in raids, or the superiority of cake over pie, our back-channel discussion tends to be pretty interesting.Eliah Hecht's article "25-man gear should not be better than 10-man gear" sparked a lot of great discussion with our readers and, I think, some illuminating poll results as well. The majority of responders believed that giving 10-man and 25-man raids the same loot table would result in a significant drop in popularity for 25-man raiding. Overall, I tend to agree with this, but I also think that Eliah touched on something that speaks to Blizzard's evolving sense of game design, much of which is evident in the transition between late Burning Crusade and Wrath. I would like to call this the Sunwell effect, or "ingame rationality." To wit: don't incentivize players to behave in a manner contrary to your actual design interests. I believe this played a huge role in the differences between BC and Wrath raiding, and that it underlies why the 25-man loot table has to remain superior to its 10-man counterpart.
Spoilers: Further Algalon the Observer details
Again, this post contains spoilers for the raid dungeon Ulduar. If you don't want to be spoiled, do not read further or watch the attached video. You have been warned.Yesterday we posted up a preview of the first glimpse of Algalon the Observer courtesy of Wraith on EU-Ysondre. Now we come with video (which you can see under the cut below or by clicking the picture above) from EU-Ravencrest's Underground Kosmonavts. It's brief and you don't get to see much, but it still shows Algalon in motion. His intro takes up a majority of the video, and I expect that intro will be a point of frustration for guilds trying to learn him. Have 10 minutes left to kill him for the week, and he takes 1-2 minutes to jabber on about reorigination? Yeah, that'll drive ya nuts.MMO-Champion also has a list of Algalon's abilities, though we don't have much context in which to put them yet. The only context I need, though? They look really, really painful.
Spoilers: Preview of Algalon the Observer
Please note that this post contains spoilers for the raid dungeon Ulduar. If you don't want to be spoiled, please stop reading. The above image has been blurred for your safety. You have been warned.Wraith of EU-Ysondre has been hard at work toppling the hard modes required to access Algalon the Observer, the true final boss of Ulduar. They've yet to defeat Agalon, but they're one of the first guilds in the world to even see this boss in person.MMO-Champion has a whole load of pictures from their raid, and I have to say... they're pretty trippy. It makes the psychedelic blues of the Malygos encounter look tame in comparison. The encounter also has an added hook to it: Upon reaching his chamber, you're given 60 minutes to fight him. After those 60 minutes, he despawns for the day week and you're out of luck.
How to activate Ulduar's hard modes
You may have heard that a number of guilds have cleared Ulduar to Yogg-Saron already, which to me is perfectly fine. I like to think that a lot of good, properly-coordinated guilds will kill Yoggy this week, and the Blues agree with me. Of course, this week's Yoggy kills were on the easiest possible difficulty, so world first or not, it doesn't mean a whole lot in terms of fame and fortune.This is the beauty of Ulduar -- if you want prestige (and the best gear), you have to earn it by flexing your raiding muscle and beating encounters on their respective hard modes. If you don't have the chops or the time for the highest difficulty content, then you can still beat the instance and see every encounter.But, of course, you want those 239-level items.So you should probably read after the jump and find out how to activate each boss' hard mode, yeah?
Vodka gets North American first Yogg-Saron kill
We're getting reports in of Vodka scoring the first Yogg-Saron kill on North American realms. Vodka had been one of the top guilds in the US throughout Tier 7 raiding, and are quickly solidifying their position at #1 (#2 in the world.) That leaves Algalon as the final boss left to down in Ulduar, along with almost all of the hard modes. Yogg-Saron isn't the end of the race, not nearly. Ensidia and Vodka have a lot more work ahead of them to win this thing. The loot consisted of... Garona's Guise Chestguard of the Fallen God Mantle of the Wayward Vanquisher Mantle of the Wayward Protector A Fragment of Val'anyr I cropped the screenshot above which was submitted to me via an anonymous tipster to hide any glimpse of Yogg-Saron, so we don't spoil the show for those who care about that sort of thing. If you want to see the full screenshot, you can see the full version here, which also contains the tooltips for all of the items I wasn't able to link above.Congratulations to Vodka, and good luck getting to Algalon!Update: Those reports are definitely confirmed, Vodka's guild website has additional screenshots.Update #2: Premonition wasn't far behind.
The Queue: Eight
Welcome back to The Queue, WoW Insider's daily Q&A column where the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today.In yesterday's edition of The Queue, my partner in crime Adam Holisky did some speculation about Battlestar Galactica that was taken as a huge, massive spoiler. As far as I know, it wasn't actually a spoiler. I'm here to fix that. I'm here to give you a real, true spoiler. Are you ready for it?They shoot Old Yeller.hold up asked...Is the Realm First Ulduar Achievement based on completing Ulduar on Easy Mode or is it based on clearing the entire place including the optional Algalon "the Raid Destroyer"?
PTR quests show hard-mode progression, Ulduar storyline, Val'anyr
We've been wondering for a while how exactly the Ulduar storyline plays out in 3.1; this may seem a bit silly or lorelol, given how much time is going to be spent running the instance itself or its myriad of raid bosses and hard modes, but I like to know what's driving me to complete an instance beyond phatty purpz.You can obviously infer a lot from the instance itself and the names of each respective room, but for those seeking a little more information, Wowhead's PTR page has you covered. There were a few quests added in this most recent PTR build that give us tantalizing bits of Ulduar storyline and show Blizzard's intention to create clear progressions -- not only in the 10- and 25-man versions of Ulduar, but a reward and progression path for those blazing a trail in the hard mode versions of each instance. A fine notion indeed. Oh, and if you wanted to know just how to forge that new legendary mace... This writeup will be spoiler-heavy! If you don't wish to know anything about the secrets that lie within Ulduar, don't click the link below. You've been warned.
